Page 64 of With this Ring

Suddenly, he wedged his knee between her legs and forced them apart. Then he broke the kiss to trail his lips down her neck, nipping and sucking at her sensitive skin.

“Ride my leg, Sasha,” he commanded, his voice rough with desire. “Let me feel you grind yourself against me.”

She hesitated, but he captured her hip and guided her forward.

“Do it.”

“Gregorio…”

“Do it.”

When he used that gruff, commanding voice, she was lost.

Slowly, she began to rock her hips, riding his thigh. The friction rocked waves of excitement through her. Her breath came in ragged little bursts, and she dug her fingers into the bark above her head.

Eyes sparking with passion, he studied her. “That’s right. Such a good girl.” His voice had a note of satisfaction. “You’re mine, Sasha. Mine to protect, mine to pleasure.”

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t deny the truth in his words, the connection between them.

“Don’t fight me. This. Let yourself go.”

As she rode his leg, her body tightening with each movement, she knew she was in danger of truly falling for him.

The realization stunned her. And with the way he was holding her, demanding her surrender, forcing her to grind against his thigh, she cried out his name. Desperately she grabbed his shoulders as she spiraled over the edge.

Gregorio held her firmly, offering his silent strength and support. His gaze never left hers as she rode out the climax.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” His voice was graveled, and he pressed his forehead against hers. “I can’t get enough of you, Sasha. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you.”

She looked into his eyes, seeing the raw emotion there. Her heart raced, not just from the physical exertion, but from the emotional intensity. “Gregorio,” she whispered. “This is…”

“Go on.”

“You’re scaring the hell out of me.”

“Am I?” His voice held no apology.

She absolutely had to get some distance between them. “This…”How much I want you, need you. And how impossible it is.

He lived in the shadows and risked danger at every turn. Even her sister hadn’t really known what he did for a living. Special assignments was all he’d ever tell her. Once Sasha had joined Hawkeye, she’d learned he was in a specialty black ops unit that did the dirty work no one else was capable of.

Over the years, the Hawkeye family had mourned the deaths of numerous operators, and there was a plaque at headquarters honoring them. She’d prayed she’d never see his name there.

During the time he’d been her brother-in-law, Gregorio had rarely been home. That was part of the reason the marriage had ended.

Even though he was no longer employed by Hawkeye, he freelanced. His work was maybe even more dangerous now. Only people with nothing to lose took those missions.

Was that what she wanted? To care about a man who risked his life every day, who came and went like the wind? Who tore her emotions to shreds?

After the exchange in the janitor’s closet, she’d been obsessed with thoughts of him. But he’d ghosted her.

Ultimately, that was the reason she’d agreed to help start Pathways. Living and dying based on whether or not she saw Gregorio or fretting about how he’d react to her was too much to bear.

She shook her head to clear it. That kind of uncertainty wasn’t for her.

“Stop thinking.”

His voice brought her back to the present. He was close, so close. He filled her vision and her senses.

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